Loading…
7
Shoutout to the old guy at the supply house who warned me about cheap tube cutters
I was picking up some 2-inch boiler tube in Spokane last month. This older guy behind the counter saw me looking at the budget cutters. He said, 'Kid, those will walk on you halfway through a cut. Spend the extra forty bucks.' I ignored him, bought the cheap one. First job, trying to cut a section for a feedwater heater. The cutter slipped, put a nasty gouge in the tube. Had to scrap a whole eight-foot length. Wasted half a day and about two hundred dollars in material. Now I'm stuck. Was he right that good tools always pay off, or did I just get a bad one? What's your go-to brand for tube cutters that won't let you down?
3 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In3 Comments
harperreed6mo ago
That part about the cutter walking on you is the real lesson. It's not just about the tool breaking, it's about the damage a bad one does to your work. A cheap tool can turn a simple cut into a costly fix real fast. My rule is to buy the cheap version first, and if I use it enough to break it, then I buy the good one. For something like a tube cutter where a mistake is expensive, you skip straight to the good stuff.
6
jakeb256mo ago
Actually used to buy cheap first, but that makes total sense.
6
david_rivera46mo ago
Skip straight to the good stuff" is a line I needed to hear. I always bought cheap first, but you're right about the cost of a mistake. I'm changing my rule for the tools that can wreck a job.
6